Washington, D.C. — A quiet yet consequential shake-up is underway in America’s immigration courts. With little warning and no press conference to mark the moment, roughly fifty federal immigration
judges have been dismissed under the administration of President Donald Trump, signaling a sweeping effort to transform the way the U.S. handles one of its most politically charged issues: immigration.
dismissals arrived through a short email — just three lines, without detailed reasoning or formal hearings. But the impact has been loud. Immigration courts,
long criticized for delays, conflicting rulings, and alleged political bias, are now the stage for a clash between Trump’s determination to streamline deportations and his critics’ fears of executive overreach.
Under the second Trump administration in 2025, the Justice Department fired or forced out dozens of immigration judges, managers, and officials. The firings occurred even as the immigration court system faced a record backlog of millions of cases, sparking widespread criticism from judges, unions, and immigration advocates.
- Scale and timing: Over 100 immigration judges and staff members either were fired or resigned voluntarily within the first few months of the new administration. The dismissals began on Inauguration Day with the firing of the acting head of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and three top officials. In July 2025, the DOJ fired at least 17 more judges across 10 states.
- Lack of cause: Many of the dismissed judges received no specific reason for their termination, particularly those still within their two-year probationary period. Some judges with longer tenure were also terminated without cause, including an assistant chief judge in Chicago who received a three-sentence email notifying her of her removal.
- Impact on the backlog: Critics argue that dismissing judges while the backlog is growing makes no sense. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, a union representing immigration judges, noted that the firings will only worsen the immigration court backlog, which has reached nearly 4 million cases. Hiring and training new judges can take more than a year.
- Alignment with hardline policies: Advocates and legal experts view the move as an attempt to reshape the courts and install judges aligned with the Trump administration’s hardline immigration agenda. Some fired judges had higher asylum approval rates than average, leading to suspicions that their removal was politically motivated.
- Curtailing due process: New policies enable judges to summarily dismiss asylum cases deemed “legally insufficient” without a hearing, which critics say erodes due process rights.
- Increased fees and reduced aid: The administration has imposed new and substantially higher fees for asylum and work permit applications, and terminated legal aid grants for vulnerable populations like unaccompanied children.
- Expanded use of expedited removal: The administration significantly expanded the use of “expedited removal,” which allows for accelerated deportations without a hearing before an immigration judge.
- Restricting legal counsel: The DOJ has ended programs that provided legal information and assistance to immigrants, including those for children and helpdesks in court.
